Ball return and throwing device



F i. GJ

,JAY E,cooK

J. E. COOK INVENTOR.V v

BALL RETURN AND THROWING DEVICE Oct. 2, 1956 Filed oct. 1, 195s FIGTTORNEY Oct. 2, 1956 J. E. COOK 2,765,171

BALL RETURN AND THROWING DEVICE Filed 00tl, 1953 2 Sheets-Sliema?l 2 /Is i FIG.6. 5

9"? n la -H 2o z l I? `../Z4 il] isz "'29 ATTORNEY BALL RETURN ANDTHRWING DEVICE Jay E. Cook, Cockeysville, Md.

Application October 1, 1953, Serial No. 333,503

8 Claims. (Cl. 273-30) This invention relates yto games and moreparticularly to those included within the class of ping pong and similarball games and is an improvement over the one shown in application Ser.No. 340,014.

The conventional ping pong table is titted with a net stretchedtransversely across the table and is played by at least one playerpositioned at each end and the players hit the ball back and forth.

It is an object of this invention to provide a new and improved ballretrieving and throwing device that will avoid one or more of thedisadvantages and limitations of the prior art.

Another object of .the invention is to provide a portable ballretrieving and throwing device for attachment to a conventional pingpong table to return the balls under pressure to an individual player atintervals.

It is a further object of the invention .to provide a new and improvedpractice machine for serving pinty pong balls to a player to enable himto practice indefinitely without the help of other individuals and tohave his skill improved by the variable directioning of the balls asthey are forcibly delivered to him.

lt is another object of this invention to provide a new and improvedping pong practicing machine that will be attractive in design, andeffectively imitate the veg-aries of the ball travel encountered inplaying the game of ping pong with another player and will also beeasily attached to a regular ping pong table and be removable therefrom.

Other objects will become apparent as the invention is more fully setforth.

For a better understanding of the invention and the objects thereof,reference is made to the accompanying drawings, wherein a form of theinvention is shown, and in the following specification described.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a plan View of a ping pong table itted with a ballretrieving and throwing device embodying this in vention;

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken on line 2 2 of Figure l;

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Figure l;

Figure 4 is a plan View of the drawer removed from the table;

Figure 5 is a partial sectional view taken on line 5-5 of Figure 3;

Figure 6 is a sectional View of the shifting device taken on line 6-6 ofFigure 5; and

Figure 7 is a top plan View taken on line 7-7 of Figure 5.

Similar reference characters refer to 'Similar parts throughout thedrawings.

Referring to the drawings, table tops 1i) and 11 are supported by legs12 and 13 respectively and are joined together by clamps 14 that alsoact as supports for the net 15 and guide rails 16 are attached to thelegs 13 of the table top 11 and support and guide the removable2,765,171 Fatented Oct. 2, 1956 drawer 17. The removable drawer isfitted with tongues 18 that slidably tit into slots 19 in the guiderails v16 to enable the drawer to be easily attached to or removed fromthe said table. The drawer 17 is tted with a rear wall 20 and holes 21to receive posts 22 of a barrier member 23, and the side walls 24 havecut-'out portions 25 to receive the ends 26 of the return troughs 27.The bottom 28 of drawer 17 slopes from the rear and side walls towardsthe front wall 29 to direct the ping-pong balls towards the holes 30 andthen through the latter into the ball returning or throwing device 31 tobe described later. A tapered block 32, attached to the bottom 2S of thedrawer 17, guides the balls into the hole 3i) for passage through theinlet 35 to the ball retrieving and throwing machine. The end of thetapered block 32 adjacent to Wall 20 is cut-out to allow the deliverytube 33 to pro-ject therethrough. The ball returning or throwing device31 comprises a casing 34 attached to and movable with drawer 17 and hasan inlet member 35 and outlet member 36 that interconnect with animpeller wheel 37. The impeller wheel 37 is formed with side plates 3Shaving ears 39 and said plates are connected to a ring 40 secured to andsupported on a spider 41 and driven by a motor having a housing 42. Thisenables the impeller wheel to rotate around the motor housing and savesspace. The motor is suitably supported between the side walls of thecasing 34 of the throwing and returning device 31. The inlet member 35and outtlet member 36 of the throwing and returning device 31 are fittedwith guide plates i3 and 44 respectively to guide the ping pong ball 45from the inlet, around between .the plates 38 and through the outlet 36and delivery tube 33 towards the operator. The lower end of tube 33 ismounted in a deflector plate to be described later and said plateoscillates the tube as a whole. One method adopted to produce thisresult in this device, comprises .the mounting of a gear 47 on the motorshaft 46 and said gear drives an idler gear 48 supported on a stub shaft49 and gear 48 in turn rotates a gear 5@ mounted on a shaft 51 to drivebevel gears 52 and disc 53. The disc 53 through its pin 54 operating inan elongated slot 55 of the arm 56 moves a deflector plate 57 pivoted at58 to the top wall of the casing 34. The deflector plate 57 is providedwith a hole 59 to allow the returned ping pong balls 45 to enter theinlet 35 and leave through the outlet 36 and elongated hole oil in theplate 57. As disclosed in Fig. 5, the inlet lor lower end of tube V33 issecured to the wall structure of the opening 69 and is oscillated by thedeilector plate about pivot 5S. The inlet end of the tube 33 swingsthrough a short arcpdue to its proximity to .said pivot, while theoutlet end of the tube naturally describes an arc of a larger circleowing to its distance from said pivot. A tapered mat 61 is placed on thetop of the table 11. In the operation of the device the motor is startedand a ball is delivered by the tube 33 to the player who strikes it witha conventional paddle, and drives the ball over the net 15 against thebarrier member 23 and the ball bounces back on the tapered mat 61 thatguides the ball into one of the return troughs 27 carried by the barriermember 23. The ball passes into the drawer where it rolls along theangled face 62 into the hole 39 and rests on the defiector plate 57until the hole 59 aligns with the inlet hole 35, allowing the ball todrop down and be carried along by a column of air pressurized by thevanes or ears 39 and carried through the outlet 36 and delivery tube 33.Since the outlet end of tube 33 swings through a relatively long arc andthe ping pong balls are light and comparatively imsy and not machined toclose tolerances, when discharged from said tube, they will be ejectedin an erratio manner to be struck by the paddle. The guide plates 43 and44 are mounted on a support 63 attached to the side Walls 64 of thecasing 34. The hole 59 in the plate 57 can be made elongated to enablethe ball 45 to pass through into the inlet 35 regardless of the locationof the deilector plate 57. When it is desired to use the ping pong tablein the regular manner with a player at each end of the table, the drawer17 is removed from the guide rails of table 11 and mat 61 and the gameplayed in the regular manner.

The housing 34 of device 31 may be secured to drawer 17 by any suitablemeans, which would leave a space between the bottom of the drawer andthe top of the casing. Such means might be threaded members 68projecting from the top wall of the casing through the bottom of thedrawer and having nuts threaded on to their top ends, and spacingwashers 69, for instance, may surround the bolts and be interposedbetween the casing 34 and the drawer.

As disclosed on the drawing, troughs 27 are carried by barrier member 23and, when the device is in use, said troughs extend along the side edgesof table 11, below the top thereof. The barrier member is secured `tothe rear wall 20 of the drawer 17 by means of posts Vcarried along withit. The barrier member consists of an open meshwork, as shown in Figs. 2and 3, and may be made up of any light reticulated material. Since pingpong balls are probably never of perfectly spherical form andmomentarily are distorted after being struck, and, since no amount ofskill could make the balls hit any particular parts of the reticulatedbarrier 23, the moment when any ball enters inlet 35, through opening30, is merely a matter of chance, and therefore the position of thedischarge end of tube 33, when the ping pong ball is dischargedtherefrom is also a matter of chance.

While but one general form of the invention is shown in the drawings anddescribed in the specification, it is not desired to limit thisapplication for patent to this particular form as it is appreciated thatother forms of construction could be made that would use the sameprinciples and come within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed l. An attachmentfor use in connection with one end of a ping pong table or the like;said attachment comprising the combination with a drawer-like structurehaving a base and a rear wall extending upwardly from the base, of aball moving structure including a casing secured to said Ibase, abarrier secured to said rear wall and an arcuate delivery tube, annularin cross section, curving upwardly and forwardly with respect to saidrear wall; said base having an opening located substantially midway ofthe sides of said base and near the front i end thereof, a secondopening of larger cross' section than the rst opening and in linetherewith and located adjacent said rear wall, and a guide blocktraversed by said second opening and having a formation to direct a ballinto the rst mentioned opening; said ball moving structure includingmeans forming a conduit having a U-shaped wall, an impeller wheelincluding oppositely disposed side plates having vanes thereon forproducing a. current of air through said conduit, a motor connected tosaid wheel for rotating the same, tube supporting means pivoted adjacentone end thereof to said casing, and means operated by said motor foroscillating said tube supporting means; said arcuate tube having itslower end freely passing through the second mentioned opening and havingits inlet end secured to said supporting means and said conduit havingan inlet in register with the rst mentioned opening in the base and anoutlet positioned to have the inlet of said tube communicate therewith.

2. An attachment of the type set forth in claim l in which said tubesupporting means comprises a strap like member, having a portionprovided with an opening therein in position to be brought into registerwith the first mentioned opening and with the inlet of said conduit.

3. An attachment of the type set forth in claim 2 in which part of saidstrap-like member extends across said casing and the free end of saidmember is turned downwardly and has a slot therein and said means foroscillating the tube supporting means includes a gear member having apin projecting therefrom into said slot.

4. An attachment of the type set forth in claim l in which said barrierincludes oppositely disposed Side members having trough-like elements atthe lower ends thereof and means placing said elements in communicationwith the portion of the second mentioned opening which traverses saidblock.

5. The combination with a ping pong table structure of a deviceremovably secured to one end thereof, said device including a tube, adrawer like structure, a barrier of open mesh work carried by saiddrawer-like structure, means for oscillating said tube, means forretrieving a ball striking said barrier, and means for forciblypropelling the retrieved ball through said tube, and a mat carried bysaid table structure and having a top portion formed to direct a ballstriking the same toward said barrier, said tube being of arcuate formand having its lower end secured to said oscillating means and its upperend directed toward the end of the table structure opposite the firstmentioned end of the latter.

6. A combination of the type set forth in claim 5 in which said deviceincludes a casing secured to the bottom of said drawer-like structure,means forming a conduit located in said casing and having an outlet incommunication with the inlet of said tube and an inlet, and meansplacing said ball retrieving means in communication with the inlet ofsaid conduit.

7. A combination of the type set forth in claim 6, in which the ballpropelling means includes a rotary structure provided with vanes forcirculating air through said conduit, and a motor in said casing fordriving said rotary structure.

8. A combination of the type set forth in claim 7, in which the tubeoscillating means includes a strap-like member pivoted to said casingand having one end of the tube secured thereto, said strap-like memberhaving one end thereof driven by said motor.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,201,626 Reynolds Oct. 17, 1916 1,223,386 Handelan Apr. 24, 19172,333,098 Forsyth Nov. 2, 1943 2,470,318 Nadelson May 17, 1949 2,508,461Lemon May 23, 1950 2,629,594 Forsyth Feb. 24, 1953

